Reversible pump



N. C. STOREY REVERSIBLE PUMP Nov. l5, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l -Filed July 22, 1948 Jig WW mmmmmmmm N. c. sToREY 2,723,622

REVERSIBLE PUMP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 15, 1955 Filed July 22, 1948 United States Patent O REVERSELE PUMP Norman C. Storey, Miami, Fla.

Application `luly 22, 1948, Serial No. 40,057

11 Claims. (Cl. 10S-3) This invention relates in general to Water pumps and more particularly has reference to water pumps suitable for irrigation and drainage purposes.

In irrigation and drainage systems, it is quite often necessary to employ pumps for pumping water from one ditch to another and for pumping water from one side of a dam to the other. Such pumps are generally constructed to have large ow capacity at low pressure. In many instances, it is found necessary to reverse the ilow of water from one ditch to another. In many prior art installations, in order to effect a reversal of flow, two pumps were installed. Other arrangements have been provided wherein a pump may be reversed by lifting the same out of its mounting, reversing it and reinserting the same in its original position. It is also possible to effect reverse flows by changing the direction of rotation of the pump, but this usually requires complicated and costly gearing or other equivalent mechanism.

Pump structures fabricated in shops as at present employed in drainage and irrigation systems are often not easily sealed in place in a dam or other structure which results in seepage or leakage of water.

An object of this invention is to provide a low head Water pump suitable for use in drainage or irrigation systems which will avoid the disadvantages of the prior art.

Another object of this invention is to provide a low head pump suitable for pumping water from one ditch to another or to pass water through a dam which pump is provided with means of simple construction for shifting the same to effect a reversal of flow.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a low head Water pump comprising a casing having ow openings on opposite sides thereof, a pump having an intake and discharge opening and means for drawing water in said intake opening and discharging the same through the discharge opening, means for mounting said pump for ro tary movement about a vertical axis within said casing and means for effecting a seal between said pump and pump casing, whereby the intake opening will communicate with one ilow opening of the casing and the discharge opening will communicate with the other flow opening of the casing.

A further object of this invention is to provide a pump device having a housing equipped with an intake opening in one side thereof and a discharge opening in the other side thereof, means for mounting said housing for rotary movement about a vertical axis within a flow opening in a dam whereby water may be taken from either side of said darn through said pump and discharged through the other side, and means for sealing the outer portion of said housing within said ow opening to prevent seepage therethrough.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive seal between the walls of a channel and a body positioned within the same.

Other objects of the present invention will appear in the following description and in the attached drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a pump structure according to the present invention positioned within an earth dam.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the pump structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view similar to that of Figure 2 showing a modified form of sealing device.

Figure 4 is a plan View of a modified form of pump installation according to the present invention.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional View of the lower construction of the pump in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 6 6 of Figure 2.

In an installation embodying the pump according to the present invention, a casing 1 which, as shown in the drawings, is of rectangular configuration is buried in a ditch,

as illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings. While the cas` ing l has been shown arranged in a ditch and dirt thrown in the ditch on each side thereof to form a dam, it is, of course, within the concept of this invention to place the casing at any desired point between two bodies of water. Casing 1 is provided with flow openings 2 and 3 in opposite sides thereof adjacent the bottom 4. Each of the ow openings is adapted to be connected with conduits such as 5 and 6. The conduits 5 and 6 extend from the ow openings to the respective bodies of water for supplying water to the casing 1 and for receiving water discharged from said casing.

When the casing 1 is placed in a ditch, the conduits 5 and 6 are connected to the ow openings 2 and 3 and then the dirt is filled in on each side of the casing 1 to form a dam 7. n

Casing 1 may be formed of metal or concrete or other suitable material and serves as a sump for a pump mounted therein.

As shown in the drawings, the upper peripheral edge of the casing 1 is reinforced with angle members 8 and said angle members serve as a means of securing an upper pump support member 9 to the upper portion of the casing 1.

The pump employed in the present invention comprises a housing 10 which may be of cylindrical or any other suitable form provided with a bottom 11, top 12 and an intermediate partition or diaphragm 13. Beneath the diaphragm 13, housing 10 is provided with an intake opening 14 and above the partition 13 said housing is provided with a discharge opening 15. Openings 14 and 15 are disposed on opposite sides ofthe housing 10.

Partition 13 is provided vwith an opening 16 through which extends an impeller assembly 17. The impeller assembly comprises an impeller 18 of the screw type mounted on a shaft 19 which extends down through a tube 20 and through a bearing housing 21 which is xed to tube 20 and serves as a means for anchoring the lower end of said assembly. Surrounding the outer periphery of irnpeller `18 is an impeller casing 22, the upper portion of which ilares outwardly and upwardly to form a conical wall 23 which is seated in the opening 16 in the partition 13. Extending inwardly and radially from the conical wall 23 are guide vanes 24 which are secured to the bearf ing housing 21 and serve to support said housing.

The lower portion of said impeller casing 22 flares outwardly and downwardly to form a conical wall 25 similar to the wall 23. Guide vanes 26 extend inwardly from wall 25 and serve to support a streamlined lower housing 27.

The impeller casing 22 and associated structure may be detachably seated within the opening in partition 13.

The upper portion of tube 20 extends upwardly through an opening in the top 12 of the khousing 10 and is secured to said top.

Surrounding the portion of tube 2l) projecting through the top 12 is an upper trunnion member 28 fixed to the top 12 and which is adapted tto be received within a boss or .bearing 29 of the support member 9. A :bearing 30 is carried on the yupper surface of the trunnion 28 for supporting the upper portion of the shaft 19.

A pulley .31 may be mounted on the upper end of shaft 19 to effect rotation of the impeller 18. Of course, an `electric motor or any other driving means `may be attached to the upper end of the shaft 19 for driving the impeller.

Bottom 11 of the housing i0 has a trunnion 32 projecting down :through the center of the same which serves as a means for mounting the housing 10 for pivotal movement about its axis within the .casing 1.

The bottom 4 of the casing 1 is provided with a pair of spaced angle members 33 and 34 extending across the same intermediate the openings 2 and 3. Said angle members .33 and 34 extend across the full width of the casing 1. Positioned between the spaced angle members 33 and 34 is a sill 35, preferably made of hardwood. This sill is of such dimensions that it may be mounted between the members 33 and 34 with a free vertical movement `for self-adjustment, the ends thereof being shaped to fit into grooves or recesses 36 on each side of the casing 1, the purpose of which will appear hereinafter.

At its center point, the sill 35 is bored and fitted with a bushing 37 to receive the trunnion pin 32. The underside of the sill 35 is counter-bored about the opening receiving the bushing 37 to form a space for the reception of a head 38 on the lower end of the trunnion pin 32. It will be noted that the upper end of pin 32 is provided with a head 39 which is welded or otherwise secured in place in the bottom 11 of housing 1t?.

This ,construction secures the sill 35 to the bottom of housing 10 so that when the housing 10 is lifted out of the casing 1, the sill 35 will be removed from between the angle members 33 and 34. It will be noted from an inspection of Figure that the underside of sill 35 tapers from its center point toward the ends thereof. This is to insure sealing contact between the upper surface of the sill 35 and the under surface of the bottom 11, even though the surface of the bottom 4 of the casing 1 is irregular. In other words, the housing 10 resting on the sill 35 will be supported at the center of the underside of said sill. Thus, if there is a high place adjacent the side walls in the bottom 4, the undersurface of the sill will clear the same and will not disturb the support of the housing and prevent rotation of housing 10 relative to sill 35.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the pump housing 10 is mounted for rotation about the axis thereof. When it is desired to vreverse the direction of ilow of water through conduits 5 and 6, the pump housing is merely turned about its axis through an angle of 180 so that instead of the intake opening 14 communicating with the conduit 5, it will communicate with conduit 6 and in this instance, the discharge opening 15 of the pump will then communicate with conduit 5.

Pump housing 10 is anchored in its position "of adjustment by means of pins 40 and 41 carried in suitable sockets in the upper support member 9. As will be observed from Figure l, the Shanks of pins 40 and 41 are of suicient length to extend down through openings in the top of housing 10 when the housing is in its selected position of adjustment.

In order to prevent water flowing between the inner sides of the casing 1 and the outer surface of ,housing 10 and thereby by-passing the pump, the present in- Vention contemplates the provision of seals on each side of the housing 10. As shown in Figure 2, these seals comprise grooves 36 formed on the inner surfaces of the side walls of the casing 1. Similar grooves 42 are provided on the outer side surfaces of housing 10, as clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. When the grooves 42 in the side of housing 10 register with grooves 36 Vin the sides of casing 1., a sealing element 43 may be inserted down between the opposed grooves. It has been found convenient to employ lengths of rubber hose as the sealing elements 43. The outer diameter of said sealing elements may approximate the spacing between the opposed grooves 36 and 42 so that an effective seal will be provided. Even though the sealing element 43 is rather loosely mounted between the opposing grooves 36 and 42, an effective seal will be provided because the pressure of water on the high pressure side of the pump will press the seal against the cooperating surfaces ofthe grooves 36 and 42.

As hereinbefore indicated, the grooves 36 extend all the way to the bottom 4 of casing 1 and likewise grooves 42 extend all the way to the bottom of housing 10. Also as hereinbefore indicated, the outer ends of the sill 35 extend into grooves 36. Since sill 35 lies between angles 33 and 34, it is effectively sealed to the bottom 4 of casing 1. .Sealing elements 43 extend between the grooves 36 and 42 down to the upper surface of the sill 35. Thus, va complete and eective seal between the adjacent sides and bottoms of casing 1 and housing 10 is effected.

It is convenient to form grooves 36 and 42 of angle members which may be Welded or otherwise secured to the inner walls of casing 1 and tothe outer Walls of housing `10.

An effective seal may be provided between the inner walls of casing 1 and the outer cylindrical surface of housing 10 by means slightly diiferent from that shown in Figures l and 2. For instance, a groove may be provided on one of the adjacent surfaces and when the sealing member 43 is positioned Within the groove, it will engage the other of said surface and form a seal between the same. In Figure 3 of the drawings, .a structure of this type is Vshown in which a groove 36a is provided on the inner surface of the Side walls of the i casing 1. A sealing element 43 is mounted within the groove 36a and engages the walls of said groove and the outer surface of the housing 10 to form a seal be tween the same. In the structure shown in Figure 3, the grooves 36a are provided by securing two juxtaposed angle members 44 in parallel relation, the grooves being formed between the adjacent sides of the two angle members.

instead of mounting the pump housing 10 in a casing 1, as shown in Figures l and 3 of the drawings, said housing may be mounted within a flow channel as shown in Figure 4 of the drawings. In this instance, the pump may be mounted in ditch 45 without first installing a casing as shown in Figures 1 and 3. For installing the pump 1t) without a casing, a pair of posts or upright members 46 are mounted on the side walls of the ditch and secured to said side walls by driving suitable piling 47 from said members 46 inwardly into the banks of the ditch. A cross member, not shown, extends across the bottom of the ditch connecting the upright members 46 and serving as the equivalent of the bottom 4 of casing 1.

In this instance, the bottom would carry angle members for supporting a sill between the same as indicated hereinbefore and provide a seal between the bottom of the housing 10 and the bottom of the ditch. As in the preceding form of invention, the housing 10 would be ysupported at its upper end in a support member 48 so that the housing could be rotated about its vertical axis to reverse the direction of iow. The pump housing 10 would also be suitably locked in place by the provision of a pin 49 extending through a stationary part 50 and engaging in the suitable opening 51 in the top of housing 10.

As before indicated, the outer surface of pump housing 1t) is provided on its side with grooves 42a which, as shown, may be formed of angle members. Sealing elements 43 are inserted in grooves 42a for cooperation with the walls of said groove and the sides of said upright members 46 to form a seal between said upright members 46 and the outer peripheral wall of the housing 10.

While in the foregoing description, the grooves for cooperation with the sealing elements have been described as being constructed of angle members, it is obvious that any other device capable of forming a groove for cooperating with the sealing members may be provided.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides a simple and effective pump construction which is particularly useful in irrigation and drainage installations. 'I'he pump of the present invention upon releasing the locking pins may be rotated through an angle of 180 by hand or with the aid of a crow bar to reverse the direction of ow. During shifting of the pump to effect reversal of the ow, the sealing means may be removed, but due to the simplicity of the sealing means, the removal is an easy matter and the seal may be again completed without any difficulty.

Having described my invention, I claim:

l. A water ow installation comprising a casing member having opposed ow openings, a pump member with intake and discharge openings on opposite sides and supported in said casing for rotation about a vertical axis, so that its position may be reversed by rotation through 180 degrees, a bottom seal, and side seals comprising vertical cylindrical elements of exible material extending between the upper and lower portions of the pump member and casing and guides of V-shaped cross section carried by one of said members and extending between the upper and lower portions thereof for loosely holding said elements in a position whereby the water pressure from discharge side of the pump will force the cylindrical elements tightly between the pump and casing and deform them to effect the desired seal, said cylindrical elements being axially removably mounted in said guides.

2. A device for sealing a body in a flow channel having side walls parallel with adjacent side walls of the body, at least one wall of each pair of opposed walls having a vertically extending groove therein of substantially V-shape in cross section open at its upper end, and an elongated rod-like sealing element of flexible material loosely positioned in said groove for easy removal and insertion through the open upper end of the groove by axial movement and cooperating with the surface of the groove and the adjacent wall and adapted to be deformed by water pressure to effect a seal joint.

3. A device for sealing a pump body in a ow channel having side walls parallel with adjacent side walls of the body, each wall of each pair of opposed walls having grooves facing each other, and an elongated rod-like sealing element of flexible material loosely lying in both facing grooves and adapted to be deformed by water pressure, said sealing element being axially removably mounted in said groove.

4. A device for sealing a body in a iiow channel having side walls parallel with adjacent side walls of the body, a vertically extending angle member carried by and secured to at least one wall of each pair of opposed walls with its interior angle facing the opposite wall, and an elongated rod-like sealing element of flexible material loosely lying at least partly in the angle member and cooperating with the angle member and the opposed wall and adapted to be deformed by water pressure to provide a seal, said sealing element being axially removably mounted in said grooves.

5. A device for sealing a body in a ow channel having side walls parallel with adjacent side walls of the body, an angle member carried by each of a pair of opposed walls with their interior angles facing each other, and an elongated rod-like sealing element of ilexible material loosely lying partly within each angle member and adapted to be deformed lby water pressure to' provide a seal between angle members, said sealing element being axially removably mounted in said grooves.

6. A device for sealing a body in a flow channel having side walls parallel with adjacent side walls of the body, means carried by each of a pair of opposed walls to form a groove, and an elongated rod-like sealing element of flexible material loosely extending into the grooves of each wall and adapted to be deformed by water pressure to provide a seal, said sealing element being axially removably mounted in said groove.

7. A water pumping apparatus comprising a pump support provided with a iiow passage having a bottom and side walls, a pump housing having a water intake opening on one side and a water discharge opening on the other side thereof, means mounting said housing in.

said support between said side walls for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, so that its position may be reversed by rotation through degrees, and means for sealing the sides of said housing to the side walls of said flow passage, including at least a vertically extending groove of V-shape in cross section and open at its upper end in each of said side walls and a sealing element of flexible material loosely lying partly in said groove and engaging the outer Wall of said housing and deformable under water pressure to provide a seal, said sealing element being axially removably mounted in said groove.

8. A Water pumping apparatus comprising a pump support provided with a flow passage having a bottom and side walls, a pump housing having a water intake opening on one side and a water discharge opening on the other side thereof, means mounting said housing in said support between said side walls for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, so that its position may be reversed by rotation through 180 degrees, means for sealing the sides of said housing to the side walls of said flow passage, including at least a groove in each of said side walls and an elongated rod-like loose sealing element of exible material lying partly in said groove and engaging the outer wall of said housing, and adapted to be deformed by water pressure to provide a seal, a channel on the upper surface of the bottom of said support, a sealing member mounted in said channel and engaging the bottom of said housing for sealing the bottom of said housing to the bottom of said ow passage to prevent the flow of water through said flow passage other than through the pump housing, and means for securing said pump housing in adjusted positions, said sealing element being axially removably mounted in said groove.

9. A water pumping apparatus comprising a pump support provided with a ow passage having a bottom and side walls, a pump housing having a water intake opening on one side and a water discharge opening on the other side thereof, means mounting said housing in said support between said side walls for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, so that its position may be reversed by rotation through 180 degrees, a channel on the upper surface of the bottom'of said support, a sealing member mounted in said channel and engaging the bottom of said housing, and means for sealing the sides of said housing to the side walls of said ow passage, including at least a groove in each of said side walls and a loose sealing element of flexible material lying partly in said groove and engaging the outer wall of said housing, said sealing element being axially removably mounted in said groove.

10. A water pumping apparatus comprising a pump support provided with a flow passage having a bottom and side walls, a pump housing having a water intake opening on one side and a water discharge opening on the other side thereof, means mounting said housing in said support between said side walls for pivotal movement about a vertical axis, so that its position may be reversed by rotation through 180 degrees, a channel on the upper 'surface'of the fbottom of said support, a sealing member mounted in said channel and engaging the bottom of said '-housing, said sealing member engaging the support bottom only at the mid-portion of said member to avoid disturbance -of lthe engagement between said sealing Amember and the bottom -of the housing, and means for sealing the sides of said housing to the side walls of said low passage.

v11. A Water pumping apparatus comprising a pump support provided with a ow passage having a bottom and side Walls, a pump housing having a water intake opening on one side and a water discharge opening on the other side thereof, means mounting said housing in said support between said side walls for pivotal movement. about a vertical axis, so that its position may be reversed by rotation through 180 degrees, a channel on the upper surface ofthe bottom of said support, a sealing member Vmounted in said channel and engaging the bottom of said housing, said sealing member engaging the support vbottom only at the mid-portion of said member to avoid disturbance of the engagement between said sealing member and the bottom of References yCited in the tile of this .patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 685,818 p Close Nov. 5, 1901 1,648,535 Broome Nov. 8, 1927 1,893,614 Couch Jan. 10, 1933 2,126,505 Risser Aug. 9, 1938 2,212,113 Couch Aug. 20, 1940 2,260,169 Couch Oct. 21, 1941 2,377,674 Chisholm June 5, 2,512,420 Ellerkamp June 20, 1950 2,529,098 Noll Nov. 7, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 128,542 Switzerland L Nov. 1, 1928 

